STORIES BY MARIA VAALER
My Professional Journalist Portfolio
ILLUSTRATING CURIOSITY THROUGH WORDS
The author behind the headlines
For as long as I can remember I have loved writing. Whether it be short stories or typing up my research or opinion for a class, writing has given me a creative outlet and helped me to further analyze the world around me. Through my time in school, I have found myself to be the kind of learner and writer who works best when under pressure to complete my tasks well and promptly. I thrive in an environment in which nothing but total effort is acceptable because it keeps me accountable and on top of my game. I have always been a curious person by nature and I constantly strive to understand why the concepts I am studying or the projects I am working on are valuable in the world outside of school. It has never been enough for me to simply do the task at hand or accept teachings without understanding why those teachings are correct. I would rather figure out how to make what I am learning applicable to my real life and put my effort into completing tasks wells rather than just finishing work to meet some standards.
When I began studying journalism this desire to learn more and my ability to work well under pressure were strengths that allowed me to complete quality journalism even before I had a complete understanding of what journalistic writing consisted of. These strengths pushed me to find engaging topics to write about each week and helped me to stick to the many deadlines even as I was learning how to properly format my articles. With my strengths came two major weaknesses as well. Before this course, I had no prior experience with journalistic writing and was accustomed to a more flowery writing style. I also wasn’t used to putting so much faith in my classmates in order to complete articles and editing in time for deadlines. But after a semester of writing articles and working as a section editor, I believe that my improved ability to collaborate with peers daily in combination with my strengths from the start of the course has allowed me to become a much better and more relatable writer.
TYPING UP A STORM
Portfolio of my work
TAKING ON A NEW TYPE OF LEADERSHIP
My time as the Student Life Editor
Working as the Student Life Editor gave me many opportunities to grow as a writer, leader and peer editor. Having gone through three years on the Honors English track, I had been taught a lot about proper grammar, developed articulate writing and learned how to leave helpful commentary for peers. Those three years of experience helped me to start strong with the editing portion of my job and also made it easier to handle the great number of articles that were in my section each week. But getting acclimated to the position came with its own share of challenges, some of which lasted the duration of the semester. Taking on the title of Student Life editor also meant taking responsibility for ensuring that those writing in my section were getting their articles done and their photos submitted. It was initially challenging to deal with students who weren’t getting their tasks done efficiently or weren't doing them well as it made it difficult for me to do my job and keep the student life section looking neat.
However, after spending some time in the position I feel that I grew as a leader and team member. I soon learned to start checking up on those writing in my section earlier in the week so that they would be reminded of deadlines. I also made sure to let them know if they needed any help so that there wouldn't be too many people struggling to get their ideas down in time for deadlines. Though my patience could have improved, as I occasionally lost my cool with others who repeatedly didn’t do their work, I feel I ended my time as Student Life Editor having kept up a well-organized section and having done my best to help others in the section improve in their writing techniques. The opportunity to work in this position allowed me to strengthen my leadership and evaluate how I approached the writing of my peers and in turn improve my own journalistic writing style.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE
Reflecting on my time in journalism
Coming into journalism I wasn't sure what to expect of the differences in writing style or the chance to take on a leadership position on the online staff. But it didn’t take long for me to grow accustomed to the journalistic style and to keeping the Student Life section in shape each week. During my time in the class, I feel I have become more independent, improved my leadership skills and learned how to use different forms of media to get my point across. At the start of the course, I was struggling to work with those in my section to ensure weekly deadlines were met. But by the time the semester was over, I had learned how to motivate others to wrap up their writing and I have become a much better peer editor and leader as a result. The need to come prepared with my own content at the start of each week also made me a more independent student as I had to take charge of what I was going to do each week and ensure that I was always prepared with multiple ideas so I could meet every deadline.
However, I feel that my most noticeable growth came from learning how to utilize different media types and writing styles to deliver a message. By writing in different sections each week I had to learn how to manipulate my word choice and writing techniques to better fit the topic at hand. At the beginning of the course, I typically stuck to writing feature articles as it fit my original writing style better, but by the end of the course, I had also learned how to branch my writing into the Opinion and Arts and Entertainment sections. Working on podcasts and developing a website also allowed me to become more tech-savvy. While at the start of the course I struggled with getting photos uploaded to the proper place, by the end I had figured out how to not only upload properly formatted photos but also how to fix technical mistakes that popped up in my online section. Though journalism was different than I had expected it to be, the opportunity to learn a new writing style and work with current events weekly prepared me to better deliver information and work well with my peers.
Achievements
-Member of the Iowa 2019 High School News Team of the Year
-Received Best of SNOS (Best of Student News Online) for 5 of my articles